diff --git a/hotspot/src/share/vm/c1/c1_Runtime1.cpp b/hotspot/src/share/vm/c1/c1_Runtime1.cpp
index 3c1ea7280..b8d866786 100644
--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/c1/c1_Runtime1.cpp
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/c1/c1_Runtime1.cpp
@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ JRT_ENTRY_NO_ASYNC(static address, exception_handler_for_pc_helper(JavaThread* t
                     p2i((address)exception()), nm->method()->print_value_string(), p2i(pc), p2i(thread));
     }
     // for AbortVMOnException flag
-    NOT_PRODUCT(Exceptions::debug_check_abort(exception));
+    Exceptions::debug_check_abort(exception);
 
     // Clear out the exception oop and pc since looking up an
     // exception handler can cause class loading, which might throw an
diff --git a/hotspot/src/share/vm/interpreter/bytecodeInterpreter.cpp b/hotspot/src/share/vm/interpreter/bytecodeInterpreter.cpp
index 3a5f31ae7..dd680a258 100644
--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/interpreter/bytecodeInterpreter.cpp
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/interpreter/bytecodeInterpreter.cpp
@@ -2861,7 +2861,7 @@ run:
                       (int)continuation_bci, p2i(THREAD));
       }
       // for AbortVMOnException flag
-      NOT_PRODUCT(Exceptions::debug_check_abort(except_oop));
+      Exceptions::debug_check_abort(except_oop);
 
       // Update profiling data.
       BI_PROFILE_ALIGN_TO_CURRENT_BCI();
@@ -2877,7 +2877,8 @@ run:
                     p2i(THREAD));
     }
     // for AbortVMOnException flag
-    NOT_PRODUCT(Exceptions::debug_check_abort(except_oop));
+    Exceptions::debug_check_abort(except_oop);
+
     // No handler in this activation, unwind and try again
     THREAD->set_pending_exception(except_oop(), NULL, 0);
     goto handle_return;
diff --git a/hotspot/src/share/vm/interpreter/interpreterRuntime.cpp b/hotspot/src/share/vm/interpreter/interpreterRuntime.cpp
index 5d2845383..b9eeffeee 100644
--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/interpreter/interpreterRuntime.cpp
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/interpreter/interpreterRuntime.cpp
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ IRT_ENTRY(address, InterpreterRuntime::exception_handler_for_exception(JavaThrea
 //       // warning("performance bug: should not call runtime if method has no exception handlers");
 //     }
     // for AbortVMOnException flag
-    NOT_PRODUCT(Exceptions::debug_check_abort(h_exception));
+    Exceptions::debug_check_abort(h_exception);
 
     // exception handler lookup
     KlassHandle h_klass(THREAD, h_exception->klass());
diff --git a/hotspot/src/share/vm/opto/runtime.cpp b/hotspot/src/share/vm/opto/runtime.cpp
index 6cfb99175..0a86211ba 100644
--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/opto/runtime.cpp
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/opto/runtime.cpp
@@ -1321,7 +1321,7 @@ JRT_ENTRY_NO_ASYNC(address, OptoRuntime::handle_exception_C_helper(JavaThread* t
   }
 
   // for AbortVMOnException flag
-  NOT_PRODUCT(Exceptions::debug_check_abort(exception));
+  Exceptions::debug_check_abort(exception);
 
 #ifdef ASSERT
   if (!(exception->is_a(SystemDictionary::Throwable_klass()))) {
diff --git a/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/globals.hpp b/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/globals.hpp
index 85e91f95b..65dfcf69b 100644
--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/globals.hpp
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/globals.hpp
@@ -2739,11 +2739,11 @@ class CommandLineFlags {
           "standard exit from VM if bytecode verify error "                 \
           "(only in debug mode)")                                           \
                                                                             \
-  notproduct(ccstr, AbortVMOnException, NULL,                               \
+  diagnostic(ccstr, AbortVMOnException, NULL,                               \
           "Call fatal if this exception is thrown.  Example: "              \
           "java -XX:AbortVMOnException=java.lang.NullPointerException Foo") \
                                                                             \
-  notproduct(ccstr, AbortVMOnExceptionMessage, NULL,                        \
+  diagnostic(ccstr, AbortVMOnExceptionMessage, NULL,                        \
           "Call fatal if the exception pointed by AbortVMOnException "      \
           "has this message")                                               \
                                                                             \
diff --git a/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/sharedRuntime.cpp b/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/sharedRuntime.cpp
index 5f540247f..5eabd3df0 100644
--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/sharedRuntime.cpp
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/sharedRuntime.cpp
@@ -895,7 +895,8 @@ address SharedRuntime::continuation_for_implicit_exception(JavaThread* thread,
     assert(exception_kind == IMPLICIT_NULL || exception_kind == IMPLICIT_DIVIDE_BY_ZERO, "wrong implicit exception kind");
 
     // for AbortVMOnException flag
-    NOT_PRODUCT(Exceptions::debug_check_abort("java.lang.NullPointerException"));
+    Exceptions::debug_check_abort("java.lang.NullPointerException");
+
     if (exception_kind == IMPLICIT_NULL) {
       Events::log_exception(thread, "Implicit null exception at " INTPTR_FORMAT " to " INTPTR_FORMAT, pc, target_pc);
     } else {
diff --git a/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/thread.cpp b/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/thread.cpp
index 4cb783e2d..94b9e69d2 100644
--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/thread.cpp
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/thread.cpp
@@ -2218,7 +2218,7 @@ void JavaThread::send_thread_stop(oop java_throwable)  {
        tty->print_cr("Pending Async. exception installed of type: %s", InstanceKlass::cast(_pending_async_exception->klass())->external_name());
       }
       // for AbortVMOnException flag
-      NOT_PRODUCT(Exceptions::debug_check_abort(InstanceKlass::cast(_pending_async_exception->klass())->external_name()));
+      Exceptions::debug_check_abort(InstanceKlass::cast(_pending_async_exception->klass())->external_name());
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/hotspot/src/share/vm/utilities/exceptions.cpp b/hotspot/src/share/vm/utilities/exceptions.cpp
index db4a17029..8b25cf8c4 100644
--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/utilities/exceptions.cpp
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/utilities/exceptions.cpp
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ void Exceptions::_throw(Thread* thread, const char* file, int line, Handle h_exc
                   (address)h_exception(), file, line, thread);
   }
   // for AbortVMOnException flag
-  NOT_PRODUCT(Exceptions::debug_check_abort(h_exception, message));
+  Exceptions::debug_check_abort(h_exception, message);
 
   // Check for special boot-strapping/vm-thread handling
   if (special_exception(thread, file, line, h_exception)) {
@@ -477,13 +477,12 @@ ExceptionMark::~ExceptionMark() {
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-#ifndef PRODUCT
 // caller frees value_string if necessary
 void Exceptions::debug_check_abort(const char *value_string, const char* message) {
   if (AbortVMOnException != NULL && value_string != NULL &&
-      strstr(value_string, AbortVMOnException)) {
-    if (AbortVMOnExceptionMessage == NULL || message == NULL ||
-        strcmp(message, AbortVMOnExceptionMessage) == 0) {
+      strstr(AbortVMOnException, value_string)) {
+    if (AbortVMOnExceptionMessage == NULL || (message != NULL &&
+        strstr(message, AbortVMOnExceptionMessage))) {
       fatal(err_msg("Saw %s, aborting", value_string));
     }
   }
@@ -491,14 +490,17 @@ void Exceptions::debug_check_abort(const char *value_string, const char* message
 
 void Exceptions::debug_check_abort(Handle exception, const char* message) {
   if (AbortVMOnException != NULL) {
-    ResourceMark rm;
-    if (message == NULL && exception->is_a(SystemDictionary::Throwable_klass())) {
-      oop msg = java_lang_Throwable::message(exception);
-      if (msg != NULL) {
-        message = java_lang_String::as_utf8_string(msg);
-      }
+    debug_check_abort_helper(exception, message);
+  }
+}
+
+void Exceptions::debug_check_abort_helper(Handle exception, const char* message) {
+  ResourceMark rm;
+  if (message == NULL && exception->is_a(SystemDictionary::Throwable_klass())) {
+    oop msg = java_lang_Throwable::message(exception);
+    if (msg != NULL) {
+      message = java_lang_String::as_utf8_string(msg);
     }
-    debug_check_abort(InstanceKlass::cast(exception()->klass())->external_name(), message);
   }
+  debug_check_abort(InstanceKlass::cast(exception()->klass())->external_name(), message);
 }
-#endif
diff --git a/hotspot/src/share/vm/utilities/exceptions.hpp b/hotspot/src/share/vm/utilities/exceptions.hpp
index 7e10f735e..9da8f4d4b 100644
--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/utilities/exceptions.hpp
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/utilities/exceptions.hpp
@@ -174,8 +174,9 @@ class Exceptions {
   static void print_exception_counts_on_error(outputStream* st);
 
   // for AbortVMOnException flag
-  NOT_PRODUCT(static void debug_check_abort(Handle exception, const char* message = NULL);)
-  NOT_PRODUCT(static void debug_check_abort(const char *value_string, const char* message = NULL);)
+  static void debug_check_abort(Handle exception, const char* message = NULL);
+  static void debug_check_abort_helper(Handle exception, const char* message = NULL);
+  static void debug_check_abort(const char *value_string, const char* message = NULL);
 };